Glossary
Actuation
Point - The point along the key travel as a key is
depressed where the keystroke is generated.
Anthropometrics - The study of the
physical characteristics of an individual, specifically the
height, weight, length and proportion of each of their body
parts, to understand and take into account physical
variation when evaluating and designing products.
Chiclet
Style Keycaps - This type of keycap
features keycaps which protrude from the housing of the
keyboard (i.e. are physically higher than the surrounding
housing of the keyboard). When the keycap is depressed
it typically is flush or just below the level of the housing,
and it is typically used on low travel keyswitch mechanisms
with 2-3 mm key travel distance. The keycaps are the
same size or slightly smaller than standard keycaps found on
rubber dome membrane or mechanical keyswitches. They are
also known as "Island Keycaps".
Comfort
Zone - The comfort zone of an individual refers to
a prescribed physical area where they can comfortably
reach and perform repetitive activities without excessive
strain
Dorsiflexion
- The bending of the foot upwards at
the ankle, bring the toes toward the leg, typically
reducing the angle formed by the foot and leg to less
than 90 degrees.
Embedded Numeric Keypad - A numeric
keypad which solely resides on the second layer of a
keyboard and is accessed through a shift
access or toggle
access. Instead of having dedicated physical keys
and space allocated to it typically to the right of the
enter key, the 10-key functions are enabled once access
is granted. The primary benefits of this are a smaller
footprint for the keyboard. Note: This does not
refer to the number
row on a keyboard.
Ergonomics Professional - An individual
trained in one of several academic and/or practical
studies of ergonomics. Some of the most common ergonomics
professionals include Ergonomists, Kinesiologists (Kins),
Occupational Therapists (OTs) and Human Factor Engineers.
Elbow
Abduction - To move the elbow away from the midline of
the body, typically by use of muscles in the shoulder.
Flush
Style Keycaps - This type of keycap
features keycaps which are flush to the housing of the
keyboard (i.e. are physically the same height as the
surrounding housing of the keyboard). When the keycap is
depressed it typically is below the level of the housing, and
it is typically used on low travel keyswitch mechanisms with
2-3 mm key travel distance. The keycaps are usually
significantly larger than standard keycaps found on rubber
dome membrane or mechanical keyswitches, and have little to no
space between the keycaps.
Function
Row - The row of function keys at the top of a
keyboard, above the Number row, i.e. F1, F2, F3 etc.
Gas
Spring - A spring which employs compressed gas,
contained in a cylinder and compressed by a piston, to
pneumatically exert a force. Common applications include
height adjustment in seating products, premium monitor arms,
and foot rests.
Hunt-and-Peck Typist - An individual who must identify the
location of each key on the keyboard by sight before
targeting with their finger. Typically these users will
use only their 2nd finger when typing, and must routinely
check the results of their typing on the screen to ensure
no errors have been generated.
Inline -
Directly in front of the individual. When referring to
placement of reference material, this would refer to putting
documents above the keyboard and below the monitor,
eliminating the need to reach to either side.
Island
Style Keycaps - This type of keycap
features keycaps which protrude from the housing of the
keyboard (i.e. are physically higher than the surrounding
housing of the keyboard). When the keycap is depressed
it typically is flush or just below the level of the housing,
and it is typically used on low travel keyswitch mechanisms
with 2-3 mm key travel distance. The keycaps are the
same size or slightly smaller than standard keycaps found on
rubber dome membrane or mechanical keyswitches. They are
also known as "Chiclet Style Keycaps".
Key Caps
- The plastic striking
surface which is on top of the keyswitch mechanism;
typically this is all a user sees when typing on a
keyboard. Most conventional
keycaps have a Key Pitch
of 19.4 mm and a sculpted concave design i.e. they have a
slight depression on them to provide an indication to a
fingertip (which itself is curved) when typing of the
center of the keycap, which makes it more comfortable to
type. They also have a significant gap between
keycaps (usually 1/4 to 1/3 the width of the
keycap). Most keycaps used on laptop keyboards and
scissor-switch membrane keyswitches use Flush Style or Chiclet Style Keycaps which
have a completely flat top with no sculpting.
Key Pitch -
The space from the left edge of one
keyboard keycap to the next. 19.4 mm is the standard key
pitch found on most keyboards today with the exception of
children's keyboards, mini-keyboards and some keyboards
embedded in portable devices
(laptops and netbooks).
Load Balancing
- Balancing the workload for a task between all
available methods, for example using both hands to perform a
task instead of just the dominant hand. When mousing, this
would refer to using both hands to mouse. When keyboarding,
it can refer to using the number row at the top of the
keyboard (to allow two-handed numeric input) instead of a
numeric keypad (which is typically only the right hand).
Low Force
Keyswitches - Keyswitches which have a lower force
associated with generating characters, which includes both
the force when the character is generated (actuation
force) and the peak force prior to the point at which the
character is generated.
Midline - The median
plane of the body, i.e. a line running through the nose from
the top to the bottom of the body, which delineates the
right and left half of the body.
Mousing Area
- The physical area or footprint on the work surface
required by a user to control the mouse when the
acceleration is set at an appropriate level for the tasks
the user is trying to perform. For most contemporary
computer users who have monitors with a display resolution
set at a minimum of 1024x768, the absolute minimum mousing
area is 6" wide x 8" deep.
Number Row
- The line of numbers at top of a keyboard, above the QWERTY
row and below the Function Row. These
are not the numbers in the numeric keypad (which are
typically arranged in a grid similar to a calculator).
Peak Force
- The point along the key travel as the key is depressed where
the maximum amount of force is required to continue movement
along the key travel, prior to generating the keystroke.
Plantarflexion
- movement at the ankle joint that points the foot
downwards away from the leg, or movement of the toes that
curls them down towards the sole (compare to dorsiflexion)
Positively
Inclined - This refers to when the plane of an object
(e.g. a keyboard or keyboard tray) angles upwards as it
moves away from the user. For example a positively inclined
keyboard has Function keys (F1, F2, F3, etc.) at a higher
elevation than the space bar, which results in the
fingertips being higher than the palms when placed on the
keyboard.
Shift
Access - Refers to a
keyboard action which requires the user to hold down a
modifier key and then press another key in order to generate
the desired keystroke.
Static
Load - Muscles used in
order to maintain a position or posture which is not
moving. E.g. Reaching outside the Comfort Zone for a
mouse would put a static load the muscles in the back and
shoulders, as the position of the arm would have to be held
away from the body in order to reach the mouse.
Supination
- Rotating the hand past the vertical
"handshake" position towards a palms upward (or cupped)
position.
Tactile Keyswitches
- Keyswitches designed to require significantly higher
force (Peak
Force) during key travel as the
key is pressed down before the character is generated (Actuation Point). This higher force
provides a clear feeling of when the keyswitch is about to
activate, providing a haptic or tactile indicator to
indicate that the key no longer needs to be pressed down
further.
Toggle
Access - Refers to
a keyboard action which requires the user to press and
release a modifier key and then press another key in
order to generate the desired keystroke. In order to
return the keyboard to the default configuration the
modifier key needs to be pressed and released a second
time.
Touch Typist - An individual who has developed muscle
memory and has memorized the location of all the keys on
the keyboard. This enables this user to 'type by touch'
and in theory, these users can often type in a completely
dark room or on a keyboard where all the legends have worn
off the keys.
